The start to a new year...2010

Well we've started 2010 off to a good start. (If you love snow that is) The best thing of all is Darren has started his new job with training. The first week was in Pittsburg, this current week and next he is in Saint Louis for more training. The best thing is, we are starting to get two incomes again! It was a little rough for a while, but we made it and we are very very thankful that he found a job so quickly. He reports that training is going well and he is learning alot of new stuff! It is quite different than selling lawn mowers, but I have no doubt he can do it. He is a very good salesman, Im pretty sure thats how he got me! :) The other main highlight of the year so far is Dillons first snow. We put him in his camo and carhart gear (thanks to grammy and papaw for christmas) and took him outside to play for a minute. Well thats pretty much all it lasted. He crawled around in it for a minute and then one mitten came off and that was the end. I have to say I dont blame him at all! It was cute video and we caught a couple cute pics in the two minutes we were outside. Maybe next time it will be ok! (we can wait until next year for more snow though) I am definitely ready for spring already!! We are currently working hard on planning a special 1st birthday party. I can not believe it is only a month away! Its exciting and sad all at the same time! I can't help but think, where in the world has the last year gone?!? What a special and exciting year it was though! I think thats all for now, we will post back soon! Hopefully sooner than 5 weeks this time! Love to all!

My first Christmas...

I can't believe it has been 5 weeks since I last updated! WOW! As you can tell, we had a wonderful Christmas! It was a long week (and more) of fun family filled events, but we enjoyed and loved every minute of it! Im sure alot of you can also say, you are too glad its over though! Dillon did very well from Santa, Mom and Dad, Grandparents, great grandparents, aunts & uncles, cousins, etc! As you can see in some of the pictures, he was over the whole gift unwrapping thing once we got to Christmas night. He was super tired! He was also running a low grade fever Christmas eve and Christmas day, we have no idea why but you could tell he wasn't feeling great. Dillon's first christmas overall was everything and more than what we expected it to be!

Winter is here!!

Daddy always tells me to get off his TV

Having a ball in Corbins Ball pit, Dillon might have one under the tree this year too! ;)

The next PGA golfer!

Well winter has set in and its begining to look alot like Christmas at the Hughes household! The weather is even helping it look that way. I can tell you, I for one was NOT ready for all of this snow and ice already! I thought all that came in January (normally on my birthday). The only thing Im excited about the snow this year is getting Dillon outside to play in it. Which hasn't happened yet, but Im sure by the looks of the forcasts coming up we will be posting snow pics soon! Darren put our lights up on the house and we have our tree and decorations up inside. It looks beautiful! Dillon loves all the lights and believe it or not, could care less about the tree! We were really worried, but its been really nice!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We sure did! We had three wonderful Dinners / brunch! And most of all we got to spend some time with the people we are thankful for the most, our Family! Dillon had a great time, he got to try some green beans and mashed potatoes and quite possibly maybe even a bite of some pumpkin roll and sugar cream pie! He loved it all! He loves the new foods he is getting!

Along with eating pretty much everything now, Dillon has learned several new things in the last few weeks. He waves when we go bye bye or when we tell him to say Hi. Its more of a wave with his whole arm, but its absolutly adorable! He also claps when we clap and when he thinks things are funny, or just randomly too. And the thing we love that he does the most right now is when he is standing and holding on to something we will tell him to shake his booty, and he bounces his little booty up and down! haha its soo cute! Sometimes he even sticks out his little hip and does it too. Hes such a stinker and we can definitely see his little personality shinning through! He has gotten a couple more teeth in. He has three on the bottom and almost four on the top. He looks like such a big boy with his teeth shinning in that beautiful smile he has! He is also jabbering a lot now. I think its fun to try and make something out of what comes out of his mouth. He definitely knows how to say momma (mostly when he wants something) , dadda (when momma doesn't answer) and babba. And I swear he says Bella, not quite sure, but I think he says her name too. He is getting so big, and is so much fun! We are so excited with all of our family events coming up and can't wait to show off our cute little munchkin! We have a total of 9 Christmas events this year, and have already had three! We have been and are soon to be very very busy, but we love seeing everyone and spending time with family! (and eating good good food too) :)

Another big Celebration happening in the Hughes household is, Darren found a job! He went out to Saint Louis to interview with a company named Buckeye International this past monday and tuesday and they offered him the job on the spot! This is certainly an answer to prayer and we are very grateful! We are now just hoping and praying this is the right decision and the right path God has for Darren! Although the main headquarters are in Saint Louis, Darrens territory will be in part of Indiana and part of Ohio. January looks for alot of traveling for him, but once trained he will be home everynight but maybe 3 or 4 a month. I will have him post more info about the job soon, as he knows much much more than me and im sure I would mess something up! Just had to throw that exciting update in this post!

Hope everyone is staying healthy and warm! Happy Holidays to you all and we will see most of you soon! For those of you we wont see, we wish you a very Merry Christmas! Keep checking our blog! We will be sure to post pictures soon!

9 Months Already?!?

Wow how time has flown by! I can't even believe it was 9 months ago that little peanut was born! It feels as if it was yesterday, as Im sure it does for a lot of you! As I look back, it is so hard to believe how much has happened and what we've been through in the last 9 months! It has certainly been the best 9 months of my life! We may have been through some rough times lately, but just to come home and know that that beautiful little smiling face is at the door waiting on you is more than enough for me! I just wanted to update on Dillons doctor appointment. We went to see Dr.Emmick again on Tuesday. He weighed in at 19 lbs and 6.5 oz, and he is 29 inches long! He was in the 30th percentile for weight (which is what he always has been in) and he is in the 74th percentile for length! She said the same thing again, HE IS PERFECT! It always makes me feel good to go to see her and for her to tell me that. It makes me think at least Im doing something right! She said his eating schedule is perfect with three meals a day and 4 bottles a day and we can start with some table foods now. We will see how that goes! He is normally a pretty good eater, so I dont forsee any problems. She also told us that we need to start letting him cry himself to sleep at night and putting him to bed without holding him or rocking him. Which it wasn't a lot before, but I liked for him to be almost asleep before I put him down. Needless to say the past couple nights Mommy has been crying herself to sleep too! I know its for the best and it will be soo much better once he learns that new routine, but it was also my cuddle rocking time and I already miss it so much! Other than that, we are just about the same! No new news yet! We will keep you all updated on the job search and the upcoming holidays, and Im sure some more pictures soon! Love to you all!

Hughes Family Update

Had to put a few new pictures in to start off with! We took some more family pictures in our Colts Gear last weekend.

There are a few updates with our family that we thought you should all know about and pray with us about. Firstly, after almost 12 years, Darren is no longer employed with Dixie Chopper. He is currently in the job market and looking very hard for something in the sales or marketing field. We both feel as though God has a bigger and better plan for him and our family and we can not wait to see what that is. In the meantime, we are praying for the patience and understanding that we both need right now. It is a very hard and trying time as Im sure you all can understand and relate to, its just the first of the kind for our family and we know with God's help we will get through! Any job suggestions and information for Darren would be greatly appreciated!! His new email address is d21hugs@hotmail.com.

Secondly, I was just going to update you on our little peanut! He is getting sooo big! (as you can see in the picture above) He is quite mobile and pulls up on everything. He can even pull up to the toilet and when someone (no names, Darren) forgets to put the seat down, he likes to play in the water!! He also thinks that playing and eating Bellas food is fun to do too! We certainly have to keep a close eye on our little stinker!

Thirdly, Darren and I just celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary. I can't believe how fast the last two years have flown by! Its amazing to look back on the past years and think about how much has changed and how different we are. One thing that hasn't changed at all is our love for each other. We have grown so close together and loved each other in many other different ways since the day we got married but nothing less than the day we said I do.

We dont have much else to update on. (as if that is not enough) Darren has been staying home with Dillon lately and he has since seen how it would be to be a stay at home dad. He has decided that would not be in his best interest! It has been very nice for them to get some bonding time though and they both have enjoyed every minute of it. I have increased my hours just until we get things situated with Darren and his job, and even if I am only working an hour more, it makes all the difference in spending time with Dillon. I definitely miss that hour to spend with him!

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving soon. I can't believe it is only 2 weeks away. I feel like it was just last week that I was begging mom to make a full blown thanksgiving meal because I was craving it all! (or Dillon was) :) Its amazing how much faster time flies when you have a baby, that you dont want to grow up yet! Hope you all are staying healthy and enjoying the weather that we have had recently. (at least those of you in the Greencastle area) We will update more soon!

Love to all,

The Hughes'

Trick or Treat...

Our little Colts Fan~Look how big he is!

One night I was a giraffe

The next I was a Lion!

We hope you all had a fabulous Halloween! I just wanted to get on here really fast and update some pictures! Dillon had a GREAT 1st Halloween and he has a lot of snackies to show for it! I will get on soon and update more, no time right now! Happy Fall! We love you all! Thanks for checking in!

Hutcheson / Hughes Family Pictures

Just thought I would share some pictures that we had taken yesterday. My (Megan's) Dad took them at the park here in Greencastle and they turned out really well.

Not much new to report about. Dillon is even more mobile now than he was the last time I wrote in. I think we definitely have a climber on our hands! Anything and everything he can climb up to he thinks he can and he has turned into quite the dare devil! Its so fun to watch him and he is trying and learning new things everyday. Even though sometimes I wish he was that tiny little cuddly baby again, I love this age and love that he is so interactive now. (he is still a little cuddle bug though when he wants to be) Along with his bottom two, he now has his top two teeth in, which means bigger and better snacks! :) He loves that!

Hope you all are having a good October and are staying warm and healthy!! Next post will probably be Halloween pictures! Stay posted for the cutest little trick or treater you'll ever see! :)